“The perfect car,” that’s what the ad for the then-current 3-series, which I remember running on MTV between segments of The Real World San Fransisco and advertisements for Clueless, said. It showed a line of twenty-somethings, slinking toward the camera through a desert landscape with steering wheels, shift knobs and other assorted BMW car parts in their hands, with a voiceover extolling the virtues of the then-current 3-series with no implication of expense or of prestige. But even then, I knew the advertisement was full of it; both my parents worked full time, both were professionals and they were looking at Galants and Altimas. Despite all the appeals to rationality and athleticism, the smallest BMW was primarily a status symbol.

If there’s a better car (not SUV) to define the “roaring nineties,” I can’t think of one. The E36 BMW 3-series easily jumped to the head of its segment when introduced in 1992 and has remained there ever since. The 3-series was how we defined class two decades ago and it remains the basic metric today. And while we might be waiting for someone to decisively knock it off the pedestal, even the most cynical person would have a hard time discrediting the entry-level BMW of the era. As much as the advertisements would browbeat you, this really was the perfect car for a lot of people.

What made this car, the sole German car Jerry Seinfeld featured on his show, so damn special, anyway? Well, it was the last instance of BMW having to prove itself versus Mercedes, and it took forever for anyone to match it. While we see it as the definitive modern BMW, it really was a case of Stuttgart envy. The Mercedes W201 (190-series) hit the scene in 1983 with an upright, wedge-shaped structure, an unflappable rear multilink axle, and an aerodynamic, contemporary design; unfortunately, while it had a price to match such sophistication, power was wanting (as it often was in the ’80s). The equivalent BMW in those days, the E30, was an excellent car and a better value, but it was much more traditional proposition, with slow-ratio steering, poor aerodynamics and a tendency to swap ends in spirited driving. And while, by 1987, it had the power and drivetrain to be truly fun, it was feeling its age (by contrast, it was primarily the Mercedes’s drivetrain which dated that car).

The E36 that brought the E30’s sporting characteristics and allied them with the safety, stability and luxury expected of prestige car in the ’90s. It was a small, entry-level car, to be sure, but with all the gadgets and electronic pieces high-end Japanese offerings had made their specialty during the years that the 3-series still had a crank-open sunroof and manual seat adjusters. Of course, it wasn’t all bundled together as standard as with many Japanese cars, nor was it even offered especially cheaply, but nevertheless, most buyers ordered their 3-series loaded (though the mockup shown here is of a basically kitted European model).

BMW’s ability to charge large sums for options which could’ve been expected as standard on such an expensive car shows just how strong the reputation of their newest offering was. The early ’90s was somewhat of a wild-west in the luxury car market, with a landscape very much in flux. Audi was still reeling from its late ’80s PR fiasco, Mercedes once more found itself fighting a stodgy reputation and struggling to lower prices, and Lexus had hit the ground running with the LS. In the entry-level sector, the E36 found itself facing off rivals we’d scoff at (or at least question) today, with comparos pitting it against such cars as the ES300 and the Acura Legend, which were similarly priced, depending on equipment. Other than the Mercedes 190E/early C-class, it was hard to directly pit the new 3-series against anything other than the Saab 900 (which went from aging to flaccid after its redesign) and the Audi 90 (which was a slow seller and a tamer competitor). There was no Volvo S60, no Lexus IS and no Infiniti G, though the E36 would inspire their creation, as well as that of the ill-fated Epsilon-based Saab 9-3.

The key to the BMW’s segment defining success seems obvious today and, indeed, it was quite simple. It involved studying the competition very closely throughout the ’80s and integrating their most accessible traits into the new car. As mentioned, the E36 owes a lot to the Mercedes W201 (six-cylinder versions of which went for approximately $35,000 in 1992), but for eight grand less, the new 325i offered a lusty twin-cam engine which made the Mercedes’s unit seem languid by comparison. Even better, it was widely available with a decent five-speed transmission, something Stuttgart never took seriously, while the optional four-speed automatic similarly avoided the clunky hydraulic controls or second gear starts that defined the Benz experience in those years.

Ever since the E32 7-series debuted in 1988, it was clear that BMW began to take buyers’ demands for sophisticated electronics more seriously. The new 3-er was the final car to reflect that change in philosophy and, while the 850i may have seemed like overkill, such things as dual-zone climate control and multi-speaker sound systems were harder to criticize in such a light and spirited car. They also made paying extra for such obvious items as leather, a sunroof and power seats easier to justify.

Reflecting the new approach was an entirely new design language for the brand. Until the introduction of the fully flame-surfaced 7-series, the E36 defined BMW style for the majority of the ’90s and it was a very tasteful look at the time. Even better, despite the obvious integration of aerodynamic principles, the car was obviously a BMW, if not as distinctive as its very upright, traditional looking predecessor. The famed Hoffmeister kink, twin kidney grille and quad front-headlights remained, but they were integrated into a much more modern shape which very much reflected late ’80s thinking.

In many ways, the design hasn’t aged as well as one might expect. Though the glass headlight covers have become a BMW design signature, they were major nod to design conventions of the era. Other details, like aircraft-style door frames reflect a similar conformist sensibility and haven’t appeared on any BMW since, already falling out of vogue when the car was introduced.

But it was the driving experience which most obviously defined the E36 and it remains one of its least dated aspects. If front-wheel drive entrants had any credibility, it was quickly gone after the introduction of this model. Mercedes had always tuned its cars for stability first, agility second and the debut of their multi-link axle in the 190E only reinforced that characteristic. The BMW (again, a cheaper car), reflected less conservative thinking, and engineers tuned the chassis to take advantage of the improved suspension geometry offered by the company’s new Z-axle rear suspension. The car was far from tail-happy or difficult to control like its predecessors were, but it wasn’t deliberately inert. If any sense of tossability was lost in the transformation was lost in the transition to the new model, there was compensation in the new steering, which lost the E30’s rather long ratio (and in a bit of foreshadowing, some of its feel).

The E36 didn’t express disdain for its owner’s abilities the way the W201 did, and few other chassis at the time were as capable. Even better, engines remained quite audible, with a throaty growl surprising in a new car at the time, and more so today. Non-enthusiast owners got the message pretty clearly that the new cars took them seriously as drivers. The C-class which followed in 1994 tried to compete with multivalve engines and rack and pinion steering, but was still more expensive and less exciting. It wouldn’t be until the Audi A4 that any car would be seen as a viable competitor in the United States, and with each subsequent generation, even the Audi has become a more rear-biased, BMW-inspired machine. At the same time, Nissan and Cadillac have entered the fray with the Infiniti G35/G37 and the CTS/ATS, which received critical acclaim and commercial success for a few years only to fall behind, with the latest iteration of the former car subject to a rather desperate renaming scheme.

In an effort to remain on top, BMW has widely equipped its cars with all-wheel drive and begun diluting the driving experience. As each newer C-class and Audi A4 became firmer and more like the 3-series, BMW has been hedging its bets by widening the car’s appeal, and current versions have become very large and somewhat inert, despite being very firmly set up on big run-flat tires, often with sport packages, with lightning-fast, electrically assisted steering. The 3-series continues the E36’s trend as a segment-defining car, and retains a very sanitized version of its driving experience, but it’s no longer fresh.

One could almost look at today’s 3-series as somewhat of an aging playboy. If the E36 reflects his limber athleticism in youth, today’s car represents a nostalgia for that era masked by minor cosmetic surgery, expensive suits and long days at the spa and gym. The cachet may still be there, but it’s all too obvious. It might be a stretch to call the current 3-series and its competitors entirely domestic, but they’re far from sensational. Unfortunately, there’s an absence of any new ideas to fill the void. Creativity and novelty have taken the form of such cars as the Tesla (and to be sure, it offers a new experience), but savvy buyers in search of a fun everyday car are faced with a distinct awareness of deja vu. Against such a backdrop, a big American classic seems more appealing than ever, and customers in the BMW’s homeland certainly agree, snapping up our big cruisers in record numbers or otherwise searching for youngtimers in the ’80s idiom. It’s time to move on.

The last 318 I saw was used up by the local volunteer fire department to demonstrate extrication techniques. With its steering column displaced upward by hydraulic “jaws of life,” its A-pillars severed by power saws, and its roof bent up and backward by manpower, it wasn’t long before it was back on the truck of the auto wrecker who had donated her…back on its way to the crusher.

No Doubt (’90s pun intended) this car defines the prosperity/upward mobility of the mid-to-late 1990s. I was obsessed with the 3-Series as a kid, and dreamed of someday owning one (particularly the convertible). What can I say? I’m a Yuppie at heart.

I wouldn’t necessarily agree that the design has not aged that well; it still looks much better than most Mercedes from that era. It is rather unfortunate how the 3-Series has grown larger and less athletic over the years, which is why I really like the 2-Series, a car that I can take way more seriously than a CLA or A3.

Just one correction, the E36 3-Series is not the only BMW that Jerry Seinfeld drove. He drove an E36 in Season 3 episodes such as “The Parking Space”, however by Season 4 he was driving E34 5-Series in episodes such as “The Smelly Car”.

Good read, but Perry must really love Mercedes! The 190, then much ballyhooed as the “Baby Benz” was meant to capture buyers who wanted something smaller and less costly than the E-class of the day (which was already over 6 yrs old when the 190 arrived in the US, and still had a few years to go). The E-class in those days was not the most exciting car, but in my mind, it was perhaps the ‘best’ car in the world–solid, honest, and well-crafted.

At any rate, the 190 was not offered with a good manual trans. The six was good, the four was a bore, and the 190 did not catch on much. In the 80s-90s, the E was a proper Benz, and the S-class was THE Benz. The 3 was a proper BMW. That’s still mostly true today.

BMW, on the other hand, exhibiting teutonic arrogance, offered us dumb Americans the 325e. “E” could’ve stood for execrable–not because it was bad–it got 121 hp out of 2.7 liters (comparable to GM’s X-car 2.8 V6 and other ‘better’ engines of the era), but because it had a 4700 rpm redline and was designed for torque. Something more appropriate for a Maverick or Dart or other plebeian device.

Once BMW go serious and offered us Yanks Euro powerplants, with the 325i, to go with their otherwise superb little car, they set the benchmark. Even the final 318i was great–it used a free revving, 16-valve 1.8 liter, which was MUCH better than the overly tall-geared original E30 (1983-84) 318i.

When I wanted to replace my over 100k 86 GTI in 1993, I test drove the new E36 318is (a 325 was over my budget), after test driving a few used 91 318i. I thought the of the new car as the ulitmate personal luxury coupe–a German T-Bird, if you will. It was quieter and rode better than the older E30, but felt heavier and more lethargic–and not just when I stepped on the gas.

Maybe the zippy 6-cylinder would’ve been the ticket. When I drove a friends new 3-series in 2001 (that replaced the E36), I thought it was a great car, but I preferred the E36. Same experience I had 10 years ago.

And so it goes. BMW used to stand out because, besides the status, they were MUCH more fun to drive than other contemporary cars, and real drivers cars, just like the ads said. I remember valeting a late 70s 3-series in the early 80s–everything felt so precise, even in a parking lot, and I decided then that it was worth it. THAT is how BMW acquired it’s status.

But with each iteration, as BMW tries to become more things to more people (make it a little bigger, a little quieter, a few more frills), and as even mundane cars have gotten better and larger tires (Malibus and Camrys with 50-series tires!), the gap in substance between BMW and ‘other’ gets narrower ever year–while the price gap remains.

Now it’s all about status, especially with the demise of the 1-series, which was the last of the ‘ultimate DRIVING machines’.

If you can an entertaining small sedan, you’re better off with a…..Cadillac. Unfortunately, you have to jump through hoops to get one correcly optioned (turbo 4 with man trans) that is not OVERLOADED and overpriced.

But if you drive an ATS and 3-series today, you might be surprised. Don’t do it if you already own the BMW, you may not like what you find….

As with the 325e, today’s 3-series is a clever way to milk status-hungry Americans.

Sadly (if one likes to DRIVE vs be infotained), we have moved on, and we’ll never see terrific cars like the E36 or E30 again.

I don’t agree with you about the MB 190 manual transmission, as my dad had a 1987 190e 2.3 with a manual, and I loved driving it. The feel was a touch different from the very direct feel of a BMW manual, but within a day of driving it, it became a very nice transmission to drive with a very light touch.

I agree with you that the Cadillac ATS 2.0T with a stick is the most fun car to drive in the segment. Don’t give up looking for a 2.0T manual base model. It costs only $700 more than the 2.5 liter ATS base, and in addition to the engine upgrade, you get run-flat tires and Brembo brakes. I used to sell Cadillacs and we got a number of ATS 2.0T base models (2-3) in 2013, but I don’t know about now as I moved on…

I think the ATS is a terrific car and would be selling better if it wasn’t for the ridiculously tight rear seat. That was a limiting factor on the 190E as well, you would think there would be more learning in this industry.

That said an ATS with roomier back seat (longer wheelbase) would not have felt as nimble and fun to drive. Cadillac gets a lot of credit for recognizing the importance of press accolades and winning over enthusiasts By focusing on one or two things, instead of trying to be all things to all people, they have made the ATS a special car. The interior is cheap looking and needs work.

I agree with that. Maybe they wouldn’t have sold many but the buff books, who were the only folks car buyers listed to before the internet, would have loved it. Enthusiasts in turn would have liked the car more and been better ambassadors. Nowadays with “AMG” on everything it is clear MB understand the role image plays in making a car desirable with opinion-leading demographics.

Are we forgetting the 190e 2.3-16 and 2.5-16? That was a Benz model that held its own with the BMW competition. Of course it was somewhat limited production, and probably expensive, but by far the most entertaining 190.

The 2.3-16 was in the line-up only for ’86 and ’87 and priced 35% higher than the volume model. It did as much for the 190E’s performance image in America as the Cosworth edition did for the Vega’s.

The 201 was no Vega, it was a frustrating hit with unrealized potential. Why on earth didn’t MB add a 325is fighter, something priced within reach and with enough volume to break-through? They could have very easily tidied up the 2.3-16 body kit and rolled it out with the new cladding in ’89. The 190E 3.0 Sport could have replaced the 2.3-16 at a much lower price. The chassis responds beautifully to suspension tweaks and the M103 is a jewel, smoother even than the BMW six.

For 201 fans a 190E 2.6 5-speed is the most sought after model. Everyone recognizes it as a better performer than the Cosworth with fewer headaches. Many will swap out to the 3.0L block. MB built very few so you can imagine how scarce these cars are.

Maybe they were afraid of what the magazines would say about the shifter compared to BMW’s; it wasn’t bad but designed more for 300,000 mile durability in a diesel than snick-snick. I hated the power that the magazines had.

Maybe an improved 5-speed was too much new work. Or they were expecting the E36 to be less than it was.

I suspect MB wanted to avoid a fight with BMW, which would explain the directions the C and E classes took. Price was becoming more important and they had already spent like crazy on the 201 and 124 programs.

That leaves the 190E as the car that went to med school, graduated and then decided to go camping in Europe, forever. It had a good life but didn’t improve the world as much as it could have.

My colleague liked special cars. His next car, after the 156, was a Renault Avantime. His one was dark blue with silver. Regretfully it was also his last car. He passed away about 10 years ago, at the very young age of 44 if I recall correctly.

Step one from going from “The ultimate driving machine” to “Lexus mit handling”. I owned an E30 325is, followed by a E36 M3 four door sedan. While the M3 was a magnificent car, I still preferred the older 325is. There was something more honest, hard, and sharp about those cars; three virtues that started disappearing with the E36’s.

I wouldn’t mind owning another M3 of that vintage, but my love of BMW really starts to nosedive with the E46 3-series.

Don’t even ask me to consider one of those overly-soft, lowest-common-denominator-customer vehicles they’re putting out nowadays. They aren’t “ultimate driving machines” anymore. They’re cars for the “look at me!!!!!” crowd.

If you’d lived in LA in the 70s and 80s, you’d know that folks were already buying 2002s for the “look at me” reason; it did not start with the E36. The E21 really solidified that image in So Cal, especially since they were also rather underpowered, especially so with an automatic and AC. True enthusiasts were almost forced to look elsewhere.

Ironically, it wasn’t until the late E30, when the 325i finally arrived, and then the E36 that the 3 Series could really live up to its claim again. (I’m referring only to US versions. Europe got the brilliant 323i from way back).

I have an e36/5 – the four cylinder hatchback. Its not quite as pretentious as its six cylinder brothers and is 9 inches shorter and 300+ pounds lighter. It has the e30’s swing axle in the rear (not the z) and a different dash/ac controls and ducting and unvented front rotors. It shares front clip/suspension and door frames (though longer) with the sedan and the rear passenger windows with the coupe. the rest of the body is unique. It even has the rear window wiper of the e36 wagon that USA never got.

The current BMW line is far to big and complicated IMHO. I’ll keep my 318ti for as long as I can keep it running! BTW it still running fine!

I found the 318ti quite underrated; it got lambasted for being not enough of a BMW but-hello-it was actually embodied a lot of the brand’s traditional engineering, only with safety features. Odd that it got semi-trailing arms, but that the current Mini gets the space-hogging Z-axle (is it necessary with front-wheel drive?).

the semi-trailing arms made the load floor in the hatch useable. its also a lighter/cheaper setup. There are those who think the ‘ti’ is the best handling e36 along with its’ roadster sister the Z3 which also has the semi-trailing arm rear end.

They seem to be a good value used, the prices seem to be quite reasonable. The four cylinder engine on these is pretty durable. I wonder what kind of gas mileage these cars obtain? Been tempted a few times. I drove a fairly new low mileage 94 E36 6 cylinder stick a couple of times, and loved how you could short shift and just cruise smoothly around town, but if you gave it a few rpms it really woke up and was a lot of fun. It felt really solidly built and was a nice driving car.

“Against such a backdrop, a big American classic seems more appealing than ever, and customers in the BMW’s homeland certainly agree, snapping up our big cruisers in record numbers or otherwise searching for youngtimers in the ’80s idiom. It’s time to move on.”

I agree with this point about American cruisers and that a reason for their popularity is the repetition of the 3-series formula ad nauseam for the past 20 years. In all fairness to BMW there hasn’t been a competitor as strong as the W201 to push them much so why not rest on your laurels, if you can?

That has certainly helped the 3-series price point. A well equipped W201 was a $35,000 car for most of its life and yes the E36 was a bit cheaper comp equipped. Pricing on the 3 hasn’t changed much in 20 years, you can still get one in the low 30s if you negotiate hard enough.

Considering how popular the E30 has become (and not just the E3 version) it’s only a matter of time before the E36 gets discovered, as a hobby car. The shape is starting to look fresh again and the car was always a blast to drive.

I disagree that a dull driving experience hurt the W201. The car was fantastic to drive, it was just too small in the rear seat and expensive compared to the E30. By the time the E36 came out the 190E was still expensive and ten years old. The steering was not a big deal as evidenced in the fact that when it went rack and pinion on the C-class it didn’t do a thing to help the car with enthusiasts.

I’m not sure we can fault MB for not trying hard enough on the W201, after all it set the stage for the E36 and all of the 3-series that followed. However a slick 5-speed would have done wonders for the car with enthusiasts and buff books. All of those 10 Best wins have made the 3-series more of an icon than it deserves to be.

We shouldn’t forget the W201 2.3-16 and 2.5-16, which were a good deal racier than the regular cars, with Cosworth-developed engines and a surprisingly conspicuous body kit for Mercedes. Those cars are very rare here, though — I think we only got the 2.3-16 and only for two or possibly three model years. They were also very, very expensive.

The 2.3-16 aside, Mercedes really didn’t try to push the W201 as a sport sedan the way BMW did with the E30. People bought the 190E either because it was the cheapest way to a new car with the three-pointed star or because it was more wieldly in urban use. I used to see a lot of older single people in W201s who could probably have afforded a 300E or even a 400SE, but said, “What do I need with a back seat?”

I agree, though, that the price and lack of space became the reasons for the W201’s late-life decline. It definitely had its virtues — I don’t think I’ve ever encountered another car that size that felt that solid — but by the late ’80s you could get some awfully nice alternatives for a lot less money and most of those could carry adults in the back seat without whining.

Having owned E21, E30 and E36 BMWs…the main thing that struck me was the upholstery…in the earlier cars, it was rock hard pleather or leather, and all of a sudden, in the E36, it was soft, tufted leather that didn’t hold up as well as the older, more plain variety. As I recall, My E36 sedan also had some wood/pseudo wood trim on the dash, which didn’t impress me either.
In a perfect world, I’d be driving a well-kept E28 528e, schwartz with red leather.

While the E36 was a dynamic step forward from the E30 in most respects, I think it was also significant that it wasn’t quite as spartan as the E30. The E30 was fun to drive, but it was basic, to put it generously. The E36 wasn’t exactly lavish, but it was an improvement.

Well, it was certainly no-nonsense, but it was also econobox plain — even with stuff like power windows, you had plain slabs of door plastic with a switch grudgingly added in the middle. I suppose it depends on your priorities. The E30 was so far removed from American concepts of luxury that I would have hesitated to park one too close to a Lincoln Mark V for fear that they might mutually annihilate like matter and antimatter.

And yet the E21 and E30 were the gold-standard yuppie status symbol in LA at the time. God forbid you’d be seen driving a Lincoln under a certain age in the coastal areas of SoCal (except maybe for a few conservative enclaves).

I think that was a reflection of the Boomer-generation yuppies wanting to distance themselves from the perceived values of their parents’ generation. BMW’s driver-oriented marketing campaign tapped into that really well because you could if prodded say that you didn’t buy it for the badge, but for the drive. You could thereby claim you hadn’t really sold out while simultaneously flaunting that you had indeed sold out.

dominic1955

Posted July 30, 2014 at 9:45 PM

Pretty much. Especially since the 1960s, folks have wanted to explicitly “rebel” against the previous generation. When the boomers (in general) were coming of age and reaching the point where they “made it”, they recoiled at the thought of settling into the same sort of landyacht luxobarge the squares from the previous generation favored but, like you said, didn’t want to “sell out” either. Thus, the BMWs and MBs were the perfect luxury car for that generation. That is not to deny the true “enthusiast” nature of some of them, its just that this “enthusiast” car struck a chord.

Of course, what comes around goes around at least to some degree as was mentioned about the Europeans importing our old boats. Honestly, if I had the money, my daily drivers would be a Fleetwood Talisman and a Lincoln Continental Town Car. If I were to get a new Krautmobile, I’d definitely be getting a 7-series (long wheel base) or an S-Class. I think those are the two ways to say “Brougham” in German…

Chris M

Posted July 31, 2014 at 7:04 AM

And just like that generation wanted to rebel against their parents and chose imports, the current generation is rebelling by choosing not to own a car at all. Or for those who do, it’s a necessary evil and the “cool” thing to do is to get a Prius, Insight, or other small hybrid.

My best friend had an 80s E30 with power windows and those door panels. There was a plastic cap over the hole for where the window crank would go on other models. That aesthetic went well with the hard seats and came off as old-school German to some, cheap to others.

The molded style door panels on the 190E set a trend that the E36 followed and I think the interior looked nicer to most folks — 3-series sales really took off with the E36.

Someone mentioned the puffy seats, I noticed those too. By then the Lexus look was creeping into everything; even the 201 and 124 got larger, horizontal panels for the leather in place of the classic vertical pleats done up in MBTex.

One of the things I detest most about 90s cars is the pleated leather look. Hated it new and it’s a total deal breaker now on used, with all of the soiling and staining issues. It’s horribly dated on anything other than a classic domestic.

On the subject of the molded door panels in the W201 cars, you would grow to appreciate the flat door panels with screwed-on armrests once you see a W201 whose vnyl has delaminated from the fiberglass(???) door panel, and puffs out. In the midwest, the maroon interiors, at least, were prone to that, and the only fix that I know of is a new door panel…the vinyl won’t lay back down with adhesives.

I believe the cap was so you could manually operate the window if their was a problem. I believe the sunroof had the same feature, and the tool for it was provided in the toolkit. Good to have if say, you have a dead battery and need to lock up the car.

Aside from the slice of Zebrano wood across the dash, a W116 MB is a pretty plain conveyance too…lots of black plastic. A W126 is a little “softer” and fancier, and a W140 fancier still, but at least a W140 still hard rock hard seats without tufted and gathered upholstery.

The first E21 I ever saw up close amazed me, compared to the Oldsmobiles and Buicks that most of my neighbors had at that time. Couldn’t have been more different.

I remember that these were shockingly good when they first came out. The dealership I worked at that summer had two factory demo cars, the 325 and the 850. Oddly, they let me drive the 850, but not the 325. I guess they trusted the 18 year old with the $90K car, but not the one that would allow them to profit the most.

Now, I’d love to have an E36. Not to drive as stock, but to add the extra-hoony “E36V8” setup. Aluminum head 302, T-5 manual. Adds negligible weight, moves the engine weight back a few inches, adds at least 50 horses and doubles the torque.

1. When introduced, BMW (and everyone who wrote about it) made a huge deal about how the car was made to be recycled and how the majority of it was able to be easily recycled by dismantlers, which was a big deal in europe at the time. This was offered as the reason that the bumpers on first year E36 sedans were only offered in unpainted gray. Lo and behold, after everyone seemed to complain about it, the second year saw painted bumpers. Duh.

2. As you alluded to, Perry, there has not been a road test of any 3-series generation by any publication since the E30 that did not mention how the steering feel has gotten significantly worse relative to its predecessor. If in fact true, one would think that the current generation couldn’t possibly have any more steering feel than the Exxon Valdez. Somehow I doubt it… (not that it’s diminished, just that the degree thereof is obviously less than proclaimed by the scribes).

3. It seems that while E30’s are still available in decent numbers in good condition, it does not seem to be as easy to find a good E36 anymore. The E30 is sort of like the W124 or 3rd gen Camry in this regard, the successors were not built nearly as well.

Wow. I never knew why the bumpers on my ’92 looked so cheap. I eventually had them painted to match the car (and look like a later model).

The e36 was more complicated and expensive to repair than an e30, so the scrappage rate is higher. That is my guess as to why there are more e30’s available. I dont think build quality is the issue. My 325i seemed extremely tight, rattle free and structurally bulletproof, but at the cost of more weight.

I never really cared for the E36, partly because I loved the E30, and partly because the headlamp treatment on the E36 was so poor.( there are conversions available that improve the appearance). I have read that build quality was poor on the E36, but UK cars were probably not manufactured in Germany.

I think here in New England BMW was a status car already with the e30 but it was not quite as flashy a choice. The real yuppy car of the 90’s here were loaded Explorer Eddie Bauers and Grand Cherokee Orvis. The funny thing is the e36 became the standard entry level luxury car here in the late 90’s by the time the E46 came around I think they started to sell them by the boat load here around 2002 you would see more 3 series then Camrys on the roads here in CT. This then seemed to cause a backlash and Audi moved in. MB used to have a huge market here in CT but I hardly ever see anything smaller than an E series anymore.

BMWs as a ‘status symbol’ irks me to no end. Ive always appreciated the clean, honest style of the 3 series coupes….and of course the performance and handling of the M3 coupe in particular. Even the 4 doors come off a lot less stodgy than anything else comparable. Audis are getting to be the same, but at least it seems to be limited to the A4. The 5 series coupes, the TTs, and the R8 are the Audis Id like to have, and even pretty much any RS Avant.

I grew up in the alternate reality of Central New York sheltered from Californication for the most part so I am just going to have to assume everyone is right.

I assume these were the “it” car of the 1990s, but for stereotypical 1990s vehicle Explorers were more commonly popping up. By the mid-2000s a few of these were driveway, or lawn, or field ornaments, but the scrap prices of the late 2000s got rid of several of these. I used to see a few beaters of these and a few worn, but loved examples puttering around yellowed headlights, dull white paint, faded black trim, or all three. The hatchbacks tended to be used to haul hay bails, lumber, or other random stuff. However, there are some stereotypical BMW fans who stereotypically cherish these cars.

We had two different E36 BMWs: a 1994 325is and 1997 328is and I adored them both. When we got the first one, my wife and I cross shopped Mercedes, Lexus and Acura, but none of them ticked all the boxes the way the E36 did. The driving characteristics were wonderful, and by the time 1997 rolled around, the interior materials were upgraded and were sufficiently plush. Businesslike inside and out, definitely a status symbol, but worth every penny. This was the era where BMW really hit the ball out of the park.

I have had the pleasure of owning both an e30 and and e36. My e36 was 1994 320i, automatic. It was the closest thing to being the perfect car anyone has ever made. Even BMW itself has yet to top the e36, although some say the e39 5 Series came close.

It is my opinion that the e36 was the best handling car to hit the consumer market ever. Its weight was perfectly balanced, there was no under steer, no over steer, and even without ESC it held the road as if it were glued to it…unless the road was covered in snow ,in which case you had better put your helmet on. The steering feel was so perfectly calibrated that it felt like an extension of your body. The brakes were way ahead of what Mercedes was doing at the time. The car felt good all around, both sporty yet with a luxury edge. It was solid through and through. I loved the interior also and unlike many BMWs of the 90’s and 00’s, it wasn’t overdone.

The main problems I had were transmission related, and of course, an automatic e36 was a profound gas hog by 1990’s standards. It would pass everything but a gas station. The more efficient option was the manual transmission 318, but it lacked the power of the 320 and up.

It speaks well to the car that you still see plenty of these on the road.